Buffing machine



Dec. 17, 1929. w, M, S' 1,739,660

BUFFING MACHINE Filed April 18, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l W. M. SPRY BUFFING MACHINE Dec. 17, 1929.

2 Sheets-Sheet Filed April l 8. 1927 awa r Jnutni'ir A fimm}.v MM

Patented Dec. 17, 1929 UiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM M. SPRY, 0F BEACHMONT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE PEERLESS MACHINERY COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION- OF MASSA- CHUSETTS BUFFING MACHINE Application filed April 18, 1927. Serial No. 184,764.

This invention relates to buffing machines and is herein shown as embodied in a machine for buffing soles, counters, boX toes and similar leather parts used in the shoe manufacturing industry.

Heretofore, in machines of this class, it has been in a practical sense impossible to secure a perfectly smooth, finished surface without the expenditure of much time and effort. The sand or emery board used as a covering for the bufling roll generally contains hard particles which leave. linear marks in the finished surface which are difficult to remove Without subjecting the work to other operations, and increasing the cost thereof.

The principal object of my invention is the provision in a machine of the character described, of means for preventing any marks or grooves in the finished surface and for producing a surface which is perfectly smooth and unmarred.

To this end, my invention contemplates the provision in a buffing machine of means for guiding the work through the machine in a path oblique to the normal line of feed. When the work is thus guided, the presence of comparatively large and hard particles in the b-ufling surface does not produce any marring effect upon the surface and the work is finished smoothly in one passage through the machine.

Another object of the invention is the provision of guiding means adapted for preventing any buckling or twisting of the work as it is fed forward which may be due to the tendency of the rolls to carry the Work forward in the normal line of feed.

I accomplish this object by providing guid-' ing means so constructed that throughout its progress through the machine the work is in 'agement with fixed abutting surfaces for opposing the thrust of the work due to the action of the rolls thereon whereby the work is supported and held in its oblique line of travel.

A further object of the invention is the provision of guiding means adjustable transversely of the machine and also to regulate the angle of obliquity of its path to suit various kinds of work and various conditions.

chine of ordinary construction provided with means for guiding the work constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same; Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view on line 44 in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a view partly in elevation and partly'in section of one form of means for fastening the main guiding member in adjusted position; Fig. 6 is a plan view of asupplemental guiding member and means for securing it in adjusted position; Fig. 7 is a view in perspective of the buttressed end of one of the main guiding members; Fig. 8 is a plan view of one form of adjustable means for holding down the work preparatory to passing between the rolls and Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the same.

In the drawings illustrating my invention is shown one form thereof applied to a buffing machine. of ordinary and well-known construction adapted for buffing soles, box-toes, and other shoe parts used in the shoe manufacturing industry. The upper part only of said machine is shown comprising the topplate 10 of a frame, a bufling roll 12, a cooperating feed roll 14 and a work support 16. The lower portion of the frame and the operating instrumentalities for rotating the feed and the buffing rolls are not shown since they are well-known in the art.

The top plate 10 is rectangular in form with a depending flange 18 and a transverse opening to permit the feed roll mounted above the top plate and the buffing roll mounted thereunder to engage and receive the work. The upper surface of the top plate 10 serves also to support the work and as a continuation of the work support 16 which is attached by screws 17 to brackets 19 fastened in turn to the flange 18 of the top plate by screws 21.

The buifing roll 12 is of ordinary construction having a covering 28 of abrasive material (Fig. 4) which is held in place by having its ends turned into a longitudinal slot in the roll and held by a wedge strip 30, and is fixed upon a shaft 32 rotatably mounted in suitable bearings in the sides of the frame 10. The bufling roll engages the work through the transverse opening in the top-plate 10.

The feed roll 14 is provided witha comparatively thick resilient covering 34 of rub her or other similar material and is secured on a shaft 35 which is rotatably mounted in bearing blocks .36 carried by upright side plates 37. Each of the side plates has a bottom extension 38 (Figs. 1 and 3) connected to the top of the plate by a brace 39 to impart rigidity to the plate which'maybefastened tothe top-plate 10 by any suitable means as by screws 40 through the extension 38.; The bearingblocks 36-vslide: vertically in recesses or runways formed in the side plates andare held therein byvertical strips=42 secured to the side plates by screws 43 th'e; bearing: blocks having grooves or channels formed in their two sides to receive the side plate and strip 42., The bearing blocks are thereby locked into the side pl'atesbut may be removed when' necessary by unfastening the screws 43 and removing the strips42. A tie bar 45 securedat each-end to a bearing block by ascrew 46 connects the two blocks so that the feed roll, bearing'blocks and-jtie bar move as a unit in the side plates. 7

For adjusting the feed roll. vertically and for permitting it to yield slightly when necessary, the followingmeans areprovided. A top bar 48 maybe, securedby screw bolts 50 to the tops of the side plates 37. and midway ient and rapid means forlocking the screw 52' to the tie-bar 45 in adjustedposition. Since the screw 52isoperated merely to raise and to lower the feed roll vertically and is loosely mounted in the top bar 48 there is nothing to prevent upward movementv of the feed roll under the impetus ofithe work; To'hold it in a lowermost resilient position, a pair of springs 56' is: interposed between; the tie bar and the top; bar, the tie bar being provided with round lugs 57*t0w1f668lV6th6 lower ends of the springs and to hold them against lateral displacement; The top bar may be provided with circular upright bosses 6O bored and threaded: to receive-threaded nuts 62,- the lower ends of which bear against the upper ends of th8S1) IlIIgS:= In the-head of: each nut are holes 64 to receive apin-wh ere-' A laterally projectthe rolls engage the work.

by the nuts may be turned downwardly or upwardly to increase or reduce the compres-' sion exerted by the spring upon the tie bar. The adjustment of the nuts 62 regulates the pressure exerted upon the tie-bar by the springs'56 and'therefore the pressure exerted hold the work being bufled and to feed it at. a slow s eed while the abrasive surface on the rapi ly turning bufiing roll smooths the surface of the work presented thereto. The tendency of the work in going through the machine is normally to move along a straight path tangent to the lines of rotation of the rolls and it is practically impossibletofeed by hand along a path oblique to the. normal line of feed since the: friction between the workand the butting roll will, when the work is turned obliquely, throw it back to the normal line of feed. To feed the work obliquely, it is necessary that theworkberfed in Contact with. guiding means which serves as a buttress, to prevent the work being twisted from the oblique path intothe normalline of feed, such guiding means being. arranged on the work support both 'in' front and in rear of the rolls. a Any suitable form ofguiding members which will hold the work along a line of movement oblique to'the normalline' of feed may be usedand in the drawings I V have shown one form ofzguiding means which is illustrative merely and to which I do not desire to be limited since such means may be constructed in various forms. I

In the form shown-,a guide strip 7 0' is fixed on-the work-support 16 in front ofthe rolls at the desired angle of obliquity to the'normal line of feed, the forward end of the strip being in close proximity to the point at which The strip 70 is adjustably secured to a slide block 72 which is mounted in an elongated slot opening73 (Figs. 1 and 5) in the work-support which 7 opening extends transversely the work-support and is parallel to the rolls. The slot opening is formed with longitudinal shoulder portions 74 which support the slide-block 7 2 in any adjusted position, the upper face of the block being flush with the upper face of the work-support. Any suitable means may be employed for securing thestrip and slideblock in position and one such is shown comprising a screw 75 and a butterfly nut 76 threaded thereon: 5). .These members are so formed and arranged that thehead of the screwoverlaps the top surface of'the guide strip 70 and the nut 76 engages the bottom surface of the work-support, and when the nut; is tightened the guide strip,

block, and work-support: are all drawn intotight engagement preventing any relative movement of said members. The loosening,

of the nut permits the slide block and guide strip to be moved as a unit transversely to the work-support along the slot opening and also permits the guide strip to be angularly cttdjpsted in relation to the normal line of One advantage of this construction is that the work may be directed to any portion of the bufiing roll desired and when one portion of the bufling surface of the roll is worn down the guide strip may be moved laterally to utilize another portion of the buifing surface. This is of importance when the work is narrow in width compared with the width of the bufing roll because it enables the entire buffing surface to be utilized to the fullest ex-- tent before being renewed.

To prevent the work being drawn over the forward end of the guide strip by the action of the rolls, an upright abutment 7 8 may be formed thereon (Figs. 4 and 7) with its forward edge curved in parallelism with the surface of the feed roll. Any suitable device or means for preventing any upward curling of'the work and for holding it down upon the work-support as it is fed into the rolls may be employed and one such is shown comprising a plate 80 (Figs. 8 and 9) loosely and pivotally mounted on a pin 81-held by a screw 82 in a bracket 83 secured by a screw 84 and a pin 85 to the guide strip 70. The plate is held in a downwardly position by the free ends of a spring 86 fastened midway by a screw 87 to the pin 81. Normally, the plate I holds the work down by a light pressure but it may be raised by the operator anytime to release the work through the instrumentality of a finger piece 90 formed as an extension of the plate. The pressure exerted upon the work by the plate may be regulated by a screw 91 threaded through an extension 92 of the bracket 83 and adapted to engage the finger-piece 90.

In order to prevent the work pivoting on the forward end of the guide strip 70 after a portion of it has passed through the rolls and thereby returning to a path along the normal line of feed, a second guiding strip 95 is preferably mounted on the work support in front of the rolls and parallel to the strip 70 and is held in adjusted position on a slide block 96 by a screw 97 and butterfly nut .98 of a construction similar to those elements used for fastening the guide strip 70. The two guide strips 70 and 95 should be sufficiently close together to engage lightly the two side edges of the work as it is fed forward along the desired path and therefore any movement of the rear portion of the work due to a pivoting action on the forward end of the guide 7 0 is prevented by the strip 95.

An additional guide member may be located in the rear of the rolls in alignment with the guide 70 when desired for certain types of work and one form is shown comprising a The loosening of the screw 105 permits theslide-block 102 to be adjusted in a direction parallel to the rolls and transversely the machine.

The guide 100 may also be provided with an upright abutment 106, curved at one end to permit it to extend in between the rolls (Fig. 4); said abutment serving to engage the work after it emerges from the rolls and p in case it curls upwardly.

Although I have shown, in the preferred form of my invention,three guiding members, the use of all three at any one time may not be necessary. especially when the work which is being buffed is stifl' and unbending. In

bufling thin and flexible work it will probably be found advantageous to use all three but in some cases it may notv be absolutely necessary to do so.

In machines of this character it is generally customary to provide one or more brushing rolls for engaging the buffed surface of the work after it leaves thebufling roll to remove the dust and particles on the buffed surface and such a roll 110 is shown in Fig. 4, the shaft 112 of the roll being rotatably mounted in flanges 18 (Fig. 3) of the work-support. A weighted elongated plate 114 loosely mounted on two upright screws 115 serves to hold the work in engagement with the brushing roll 110 and a helical spring 116 is interosed on each screw 115 between its head and the plate to hold the latter to resist the up ward thrust of the work when being cleaned.

For preventing injury to the hands of the operator when. feeding the w'ork, a guard rod or member 120 may be arranged in front of the rolls and at a height above the work support suflicient to permit freely the feeding of the work. The guard member may be mounted in any suitable manner but preferably is supported at each end by a segment bracket 121 pivotally mounted on a screw 122 setin the side flange 18 (Fig. 3), the upper corner of each bracket being in the form of a split collar bearing 123 to receive and hold one'end of the guard member. A screw 124 is used to tighten the collar to hold the guard member securely in the bracket. The position of the guard in relation to the work-support and rolls is regulated by moving the brackets pivotally and to hold them in adjusted position, each bracket is provided with a segment slot 125 within which is mounted a screw 126 threaded into the depending flange 18. The head of the screw overlaps the sides of the slot and the loosening of the screw permits the adjustment of the guard by the pivotal movement of the brackets.

In the operation of-a buffing machine provided with guides made in accordance with my invention and with the bufiing rolls pro-perly adjusted to the work to be done, the guides are adjusted at the desired angle to the normal line of feed by manipulation of the butterfly nuts'whereby they are fastened to the work-support. The work is then fed to the rolls by hand and between the guides and under the hold-down plate 80 provided one'is used. In Fig. 1, I have shown work 130 in the form of a sole in position between the guides for entering between the rolls. As the work is fed forward, the friction be tween it and the rolls tends to turn the work from an angular path to the normal line of feed but the thrust of the work thusengendered is opposed by the guides and it is freed to proceed along the desired'pa't-h. After the forward. end of the work emergesfrom between the mus, that end is supported by the guide in the rear of the rolls. In case the work is thin and flexible, the upright abutments 7 8 and 106 on the front and rear guides respectively prevent the work riding up over the guides adjacent the rolls.

By feeding the work through the machine at an angle, I avoid any cuts or lines in the finished buffed surface which otherwise might occur from solid particles on the surface of the bufiing' roll, and I have found that a perfectly smooth velvety surface is invariably secured.

It is to be understood that my invention is not to be limited to the specific form of construction herein shown and described asit may be embodied in various other forms all within the spirit thereof. 7 What I claim is 1. In amachine of the class described, the combination with awork s'upport, a feed roll and a buifing roll of means for guiding and holding in flat condition thin flexible work fedobliquely through the machine co1i1pris ing a guiding strip adj ustablysecured to said said first guiding strip and a spring {pressed plate of substantial width arranged in close proximity to said rolls andto the front end of said first mentioned guiding strip to hold that portion of the work about to be presented to the rolls'in flat condition.

2. In a machine of the class described,-t-he combination with a work-support, a feed roll and a buffing roll of means for g'uidingland holding in flat condition thin flexible 'work fed obliquely through the machine comprising an elongated guiding strip, said guiding str ip having' its front end in close proximity to said fe'e'd roll and said buffing roll and having an upright side abutment-thereon for preventing the work rid-ing over said guiding strip, n1eans for securing said guiding strip in adjusted oblique position on said work support, and a spring pressed plate of subs'tan tia'l width arranged'in closeproximity tosaid'rolls and'to the front end of said guide to' holdt'hat-portion of the work about to be end provided with a'n upright side abutment,

the front-edge of which follows-the configuration of the feeding roll for preventing the work turning upwardly and over saidguidi ng strip during its progress between said rolls, a second guiding strip behind said rolls and in alignment with said'ifirst guiding strip also provided with an abutment having-one edge following the configuration of said feed roll and a s )r'in ressed late arran ed inclose proximity to said front guide adjacent said abutment thereon and projecting forwardly ini-bet'w'een said feed roll and said b'ufling roll, in order to hold the work in flat condition and preventturning theedg'e thereof when-presented to the machine and during its rogresstherethreugh.

4. In'a rnaehine ofth'e class described, the combinationwi-th a Work-support, a feed roll and a bufii'n rell of means for guiding and holding in flat'conditio'n thin flexible work fe'd obliquely through the machine comprising aipai r of elongated guiding strips between which the work is fed, saidstrips being adjustably secured to said work support obliquely to thenorrnal-line of feed and one of said strips being provided on its forward end with an upright "side abutment for preventing the work from turning upwardly and riding oversaid guiding strip during'its feeding movement and a spring pressed plate of substantial width arranged in close proximity to the forward end of the guiding strip and to said rolls to hold that portion of the Work aboutto be presented to the rolls in flat condition.

In witness whereof, I hereunto set my hand this fifteenth'd'ay ofApril, 1927. V

' WILLIAM M. SPRY. 

